Today we are proud to announce another winery who will no longer be covered here at Catavino. Back in March, Carrie Jorgensen, one of the owners of Cortes de Cima, approached Catavino to assist them in creating a blog. Naturally, we were interested, as we like to help all wineries enter into this social arena; but beyond that, we were excited to be able to work with a client who in Portugal is known for its rebellious nature and tendency to stir things up a bit. Not to mention, that they are probably one of the top rated wineries in Portugal as a whole. Clearly, we were both honored and humbled to be of service.

Ryan first tasted their wines in January of 2007 when he was at a meeting in Lisbon. He knew very little about them, though he did like the wines. Big and bold, these are modern reds, but the nice thing is that they have a polished veneer of Portuguese about them. Cortes de Cima is the winery who first introduced the Syrah grape to the region of the Alentejo, going against the Portuguese wine law that forbid its planting. However, Cortes de Cima recognized the region and climate as highly suitable for this noble grape. Granted, we are firm believers of preserving and defending native varietals above foreign invaders, but in this case, we agree with them. The Alentejo region is down right hot. Actually that is an understatement. It’s effing, hot-damn, fry an egg on the sidewalk hot. Summer temps are normally well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit a Syrah thrives in this heat. But this is not to say that Cortes de Cima has turned their back on tradition or the region as a whole. They …